Just got hold of these this morning and I have to say I'm very impressed. They're the CP6371 model (Usher don't seem to be big on catchy names), tall and heavy 2.5 way rear ported floorstanders designed by Joe d'Appolito (famous for the MTM driver arrangement he championed). The weight is partly due to the large iron bases which jut out quite far behind them to keep them stable while leaning back to improve the time alignment of the drivers, and this weight is increased by sand filling in the base of these examples (a small compartment in the bottom permits this).
Several aspects of their performance stand out. Firstly they have a big sound as you'd expect, but they work surprisingly well near the back wall despite their large ports, the biggest I've seen. Secondly, they have a window to fine detail without sounding bright, harsh or etched in any way. Thirdly the mid range is beautiful - I've always preferred a slight v shape in the response of my speakers (going back to my teenage years when I would set my graphic equaliser to a v) but the mids are so sweet in these I can live with them being as prominent as the rest of the frequency range. Lastly, they throw a wonderful soundstage and image really well, they truly do the disappearing act. They sound great with rock, with plenty of impact and roughness round the edges when required but they are equally at home with both large scale orchestral and more intimate chamber music. Piano in particular sounds very lifelike, they are tonally accurate and importantly have sufficient range to give the rich, resonant feeling of the instrument that smaller speakers can't do.
Although Usher speakers are renowned for offering high quality sound and build at great value, I've held off from buying a pair of these before for two reasons. I wasn't sure about the wood side cheeks, and I was holding out for a pair of Dancers, their top range. However, I heard a pair at Kegworth and found they weren't to my taste. I also read a review that said these occupy the sweet spot of the ranges as the soft dome tweeter was very good and the Beryllium tweeter was not to everyone's taste. So I went for these, and I'm glad I did purely from a sonic perspective, but I also think they look nicer in the flesh than I expected too. I kind of like the "wooden standmount on a black stand" impression they give which if anything makes them feel smaller than they actually are, a big positive given the importance of domestic bliss in the speaker equation!
Overall they are the best sounding speakers I have owned (after accounting for room matching) and I would say they are a true "endgame" speaker, I can't imagine needing anything more than these, for quite a while at least! Of course I should have learned to wait before judging, but they sound so nice I'm going to stick my neck out this time!
I think I'll be listing my BKS 128 ribbon speakers on the forum soon, I've got to give a mate first dibs but if anyone's interested in hearing them, just let me know.
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